I don’t much like affirmations myself. I think they can work well for people, but I personally I prefer a more tangible and symbolic approach.
Affirmations work by re-programming how you think over time, to turn negative beliefs into positive ones through a process of hard work and repetition. Where they can fall down is when it becomes another thing to do on an already bursting task list. To be effective they need to be kept up for six months or more as part of your regular routine. If they work for you great – keep going!
One way to take out the time sting is to put them somewhere you can see them each day, perhaps out of the corner of your eye. They are still picked up by your unconscious, perhaps with less immediate conscious effect, but less chance of being lost in a draw.
But if, like me, you prefer symbols to words – and symbols are the language of dreams and the unconscious – then they might work better for you. They also have the added bonus of looking nicer about the home!
For example, perhaps you want to strengthen you will and stand up for yourself more. Now one approach might be to go running, occasionally punching the air or stopping to shout ‘I am a Samurai’ as an affirmation. That’s not my choice! A symbolic alternative might be to hang a sword on the wall (or a picture of one), if that symbolised assertion for you. This is just an example; whatever quality you want to cultivate, choose something that has that meaning for you. Maybe this means buying flowers to give yourself some TLC, or a picture of yourself age 6 to bring play and fun to mind.
If you want to find symbols that work for you, one source is your dreams. If you keep a note of your dreams, you could look there. Another might be visualisation through meditation, keeping the quality you want to develop in mind and seeing what image comes.
Whatever you want to develop, and whatever the symbol you choose is, one last thing: you don’t need to tell anyone else. Others can simply admire the object if they see it. If they ask you why you have a huge sword on your wall, you can shrug and say, ‘I just like it’. How they react to that will tell you more about them than you!
